mute

adj., n., & v.
—adj.
1 silent, refraining from or temporarily bereft of speech.
2 not emitting articulate sound.
3 (of a person or animal) dumb.
4 not expressed in speech (mute protest).
5 a (of a letter) not pronounced. b (of a consonant) plosive.
6 (of hounds) not giving tongue.
—n.
1 a dumb person (a deaf mute).
2 Mus. a a clamp for damping the resonance of the strings of a violin etc. b a pad or cone for damping the sound of a wind instrument.
3 an unsounded consonant.
4 an actor whose part is in a dumb show.
5 a dumb servant in oriental countries.
6 a hired mourner.
—v.tr.
1 deaden, muffle, or soften the sound of (a thing, esp. a musical instrument).
2 a tone down, make less intense. b (as muted adj.) (of colours etc.) subdued (a muted green).
Phrases and idioms:
mute button a device on a telephone etc. to temporarily prevent the caller from hearing what is being said at the receiver's end. mute swan the common white swan.
Derivatives:
mutely adv. muteness n.
Etymology: ME f. OF muet, dimin. of mu f. L mutus, assim. to L